The sighs of relief that the Nuggets' front office and head coach have been taken care of aren't confined to team president Josh Kroenke.

Count Ty Lawson among the relieved.

"Having a GM, a coach, knowing what we're doing going forward takes a lot of the stress off everybody around the organization and the players," Lawson said Thursday during a phone interview.

Not long after new Nuggets coach Brian Shaw was finished with the many obligations of being introduced to the Denver media this week, the old point guard got some much-needed face time with his new point guard, Lawson.

"We've been talking for the last couple of days. He's definitely a cool guy," said Lawson, who is back in Denver. "He's very hungry and motivated to get out of the first round and improve every day, so I'm excited."

Lawson and Shaw, who will have to be on the same page to give the Nuggets their best chance to win, have talked about everything from how the Denver players were coached under the previous regime to what time practices were.

"All of the ins and outs of what was going on here," Lawson said.

A big part of the conversation was the new offense and expectations. On the Nuggets' new offense, Lawson said he thinks he has "a good read on that."

"I don't think it's going to change too much," said the 25-year-old Lawson, who was drafted in 2009. "It's probably more emphasis on half-court offense, just being more crisp and having our plays down pat. In a half-court situation, knowing exactly what we want."

Asked if adapting to stricter — and likely more complicated — half-court play is something this roster is ready to do, Lawson said: "It better be. I was watching the (NBA) Finals and there was a lot of half-court offense. I don't think there's anything we can't run. We've got to be more crisp and know exactly what we want in the offense. Especially with young players like myself and (Kenneth) Faried and everybody.

"We're a versatile bunch at every position. The centers, we've got JaVale (McGee), Kosta (Koufos) and Timo (Mozgov), they all give out different types of playing styles. We've got guys at the four, three, two and one. I think we'll definitely adapt to it, adapt to what (Shaw) wants. And I think he'll adapt to us and our playing styles."

Lawson said he was most impressed with Shaw's résumé.

"It's huge," Lawson said. "We're a young team eager to learn. He brings that pedigree from being under Phil Jackson to taking the Indiana Pacers to the Eastern Conference finals.

"We're just ready to soak up all the knowledge that he's going to give us and hopefully get us out of the first round. That's our main goal right now."

Lawson's new contract kicks in next season, taking him from a $2 million base salary to more than $10 million. But what hasn't kicked in is added pressure, Lawson said.

"Last year I didn't feel too much pressure. Even though it wasn't my contract year, people already knew what I signed my contract for," he said. "They were already tweeting stuff about it and stuff like that. I'm just going to work hard. My game is going to elevate this year from all of the hard work I'm putting in. I don't feel pressure at all."

Not all kids who play baseball are uniformed with fancy script across their chests, traveling to $1,000 instructional camps and drilled how to properly hit the cut-off man. Some kids just play to play.